The Film Retriever

The indomitable SRT-303  This is a review of the Minolta SR-T 303 (and it's sibling, the SRT100). I base my review on having spent half a year together and shot quite a bit of film with it. And I thought I was not going back to Minolta ever again. I sold my X-700, my 9xi, my 7xi and my XD11 and I said "enough, no more Minoltas" - how deluted I was. A lovely 700si found its way back to my collection (review here) and at Christmas, I came across an online listing saying: "old film camera - not working". It was for peanuts, so I said why not. The lens (a Makinon 28 f/2.8) was full of fungus so I threw it away, the camera - a beautiful SRT303 was working just fine and looked like new. A few weeks later, a SRT100 with an unusual Rokkor 50 f/3.5 macro was up for sale - price looked low and I got it. That's how this equipment came to my hands. I will not go into the historical details of these cameras, there are other sites that explain it so nicely. A...

The Brilliant 700si  I didn't need a Minolta 700si. I always wanted one but I didn't need it. I have a nice collection of user cameras and I prefer to spend the £50 (average 700si value) on buying films. But I got a notification of a new listing with a 700si for £5, so I didn't give it any second thought. Minolta got in a bit of a muddle in the early 90s. The xi series was loaded with unnecessary features that gave very little to no control to the photographer. Despite the initial raving reviews of the 7xi, very few photographers managed to bond with it (me being one of them). The only cameras that kept Minolta alive where the 2xi, 3xi and Spxi - entry level models that sold well with amateurs. With the 700si, Minolta planted themselves back into the competitive arena of the advanced amateur cameras. The Minolta 700si was the camera that the 7xi should have been from the start. There are some minor updates regarding the AF module and light metering department a...

The Rolleicord in question  Those who have been browsing through this blog would probably have noticed that medium format film cameras are not my popular choice. A combination of being expensive and quite bulky to use meant that I tend to prefer 35mm cameras. Over the years I dipped my toe in the medium format arena with different cameras (Nettar, Ikoflex, box cameras) but I would eventually sell them off to recuperate the expense. Somehow I remained inconvenienced as to whether this is for me. But an advert for an old camera came up locally and it was for free, so I thought "why not?". The camera in question was an old Rolleicord. I can distinguish models III, IV and the different varieties of the V but for the different versions of the I and II, it seems I need some help.   Identifying the camera and serial numbers. Rolleicords I, Ia and II had so many different models with different lenses that the only way to correctly identify which one you have is only v...

Loads of glass. How do they perform? So what happens when you find yourself in a lock down with plenty of free time and zero photographic opportunities? Well, you find a project to keep you busy – at least I did. Having had a roll of Delta 400, the wrong developer to go with it (HC110) and two lenses, I thought I could compare one lens to the other. The two lenses in question is the Olympus Zuiko 50 f/1.4 (sn# 400100 - i love this serial number) and an AF Nikkor 50 f/1.4 D (sn# 4581646). To minimize differences due to development, I only used one roll of Delta 400 that I swapped it a couple of times from one camera to the other. The two cameras used were the Olympus OM4 and the Nikon F4s. The rather unexciting set up was arranged in a room at home with the light coming from the right side of the picture. Both cameras were set on a tripod and used the self-timer with the mirror lock up to take each picture. The setup Here is what I did – I taped this newspaper on the wa...

This is a review of two cameras, the two Chinons CE-4s and CM-4s. I've been having the CM-4s for quite some time now and the CE-4s landed on my hands a few months ago as a donation. After having shot a couple of films with each here is what I think. The Chinon CM-4s   The CM-4s is the mechanical one. Uses batteries only for the light meter which is a (typical for the early 80's) centre-weighted. Overall, judging from the pictures, it has a tendency to overexpose slightly, possibly by 1/2 to 3/4 stop. I don't know if this is typical for the CM-4s or it is my sample but with the film i shot (ILFORD HP5+ rated at 400) it resulted in nice pictures.The viewfinder is very spartan - only the split image with microprism is visible - nothing else in there. There are 3 LEDs that are outside the viewfinder - two reds and one green - which indicate correct exposure. Shutter speeds between 1sec to 1/1000 on a good quality Seiko metal focal plane shutter. ASA range is a modest 2...

Such a beauty! This is a review of the Olympus OM4 - a camera I bought on a car boot sale a few months ago for the grand total of £9 including a G-Zuiko 35-70 f/3.5-4.5. The OM4 hit the shops in 1983. It was meant to replace the classic OM2n by giving it a more modern touch. The OM3/OM4 had a few updates (T for the US market and Ti for the rest of the world) both of them updating features like battery consumption, high speed flash synchronization and adding a Titanium frame. Whilst the OM4 sold well in it's different versions, it's sibling, the OM3, was a commercial disaster. Few were sold due to the extortionate prices for what it was essentially an OM1 with a spot metering - these cameras command now high prices in the second hand market. The spot buttons The OM4 feels so familiar. If you ever held an OM2 then you know that this is unmistakably it's sibling. There are a few changes though. Next to the advance lever there are the spot button...